The document called for the fumigation of apartment buildings and the close monitoring of the movement of residents, especially in buildings with foreign tenants.
Those who come from or travel through China should be quarantined in line with the Health Ministry’s guidance, it said, adding that any suspected case must be promptly reported to the local medical agency for quickly quarantine and treatment.
The department also asked management boards of apartment buildings to guide tenants in how to prevent virus transmission and avoid organising events with large number of participants.
According to the department, there are 1,440 apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh with more than 140,000 apartments.
The city so far reported three confirmed cases of COVID-19, two of whom, a pair of Chinese father and son who were the first COVID-19 cases in Vietnam, have been cured.
Vietnam has so far confirmed 16 cases of the viral infection. Among them, seven have fully recovered. They were all treated for free.